This variant combines the swashbuckling attacking play of CrazyHouse with the randomised initial positions from Chess960.
Game rules
The initial position is randomly chosen as in Chess960. To summarize, the pawns are placed on their standard starting squares, and the other pieces are placed in random order on the first rank, subject to the following constraints:
- The king is placed somewhere between the two rooks.
- The bishops are placed on opposite-coloured squares.
- The black pieces are placed equal-and-opposite the white pieces.
Castling is allowed, the castling rules are the same as in Chess960 (after castling king and rook stay as in normal chess).
Pieces you capture become yours to use as you wish on a future turn (and vice versa for your opponent). Instead of your normal move, you can "drop" a captured piece anywhere on the board, including checking the king. Pawns cannot be dropped on the 1st or 8th rank, and if a promoted pawn is captured, it reverts back to a pawn.
Game hints
All the suggestions from the CrazyHouse article, are valid here.
In many Chess960 setups, there are weak or undefended squares on the 6th or 7th rank. Those are good candidates to be used while developing an attack, while you should be very aware of weaknesses in your own defense. This game is an extreme example of how ignoring this hint can lead to very short games.
Example games
- The Queen problem - both sides face 960-characteristic problems with queen development, then exploit weak squares around the kings while unleashing crazyhouse-style attacks,
- Exploit weaknesses - another interesting battle.